Sean had watched the nightly news with increasing alarm each night. The virus was getting closer and closer. The death rate was somewhat uncertain, but he knew that for someone in his poor physical health it would be much higher. He already lived the life of a hermit, which was now a good thing. His aide Thelma, an elderly woman in her sixties was a concern though. She worked about two hours per day, usually during the mornings cleaning up the house and doing errands for him like getting the shopping. Those two hours were vital. He knew that it was a major vulnerability, not only in that she could carry the virus to him, but also that she might be too scared to come help him. There was little he could do about it though.
As if having become paralyzed through a car accident wasn’t bad enough, now he had to face a pandemic. He wished he had relatives close by in case things went pear shaped but his mother had died during the very same accident and he had never known his father. At times, it felt like nobody else knew he existed.
Still, he tried to put his worries to the back of his mind. But, that became impossible after hearing the Taoiseach’s announcement that Ireland was going into lockdown. Nobody was to go to work the next day.
It didn’t take long for his phone to ring. He knew it was Thelma, and this was almost certainly not going to be good news.
“Thelma?”
“Sean, have you seen the news? They don’t want want people to leave their homes. What will I do?”
Her voice was trembling.
“I’ll be okay. Don’t come tomorrow, hopefully we’ll get some clarification on things, if we wait a day or two.”
“Are ya sure?”
He wasn’t.
“Yes, I am. Talk again tomorrow ok”
With that, the call ended. He immediately rolled over to the kitchen and checked his fridge. There was enough for a day or two. He needed a plan in case he didn’t see Thelma for a while. Then it came to him – that Polish woman, but did he still have her number?
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